1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to flavor and shelf life enhancement of fish and whole seafood prior to cooking or freezing and to the maintenance and enhancement of the cooked yield of fish and whole seafood. In particular, the present invention relates to methods for maintaining or enhancing the flavor, shelf life and cooked yield of Maine lobsters.
2. Description of the Related Art
The quality and taste of seafood is known to deteriorate as oxidation occurs and ice crystals disrupt the cells and tissue. The freezing preservation of whole seafood so that the food tastes substantially like fresh has been so difficult, for example, when compared to the problems associated with freezing meat, that the U.S. Government financed research in this field for many years. Despite this effort, little success has been obtained and the program has now been terminated.
Representative of this type of effort is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,336,274, issued to Ross et al. on Jun. 22, 1982, which discloses a whole blue crab freezing process. This process includes the use of sugar in the boiling and cooling baths and the retention of this sugar water within the shell of the whole blue crab during freezing and storage. However, only sugar is disclosed as a flavor and shelf life enhancer, and only immersion is disclosed as a method of application. Further, the process is disclosed for whole blue crabs only.
Various attempts have been made in the beef industry to improve the quality of meat. Swift and Codeveloped one of the most promising. In this process, an injection of a clarified, concentrated, standardized proteolytic enzyme (papain) is injected into the animal's jugular vein minutes before slaughter. The size of the injection is dependent upon the weight and grade of the animal. The tenderizing enzyme is carried to all parts of the body through the blood stream and results in a significant increase in tenderness. The purpose of this process was limited to making the meat tenderer and was limited to beef.
A method of improving the quality of frozen seafood, particularly lobsters, which can be used with additives other than sugar and places the additives uniformly into the flesh of the animal prior to cooking or freezing is not disclosed in the prior art.